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The look of the champions

July 14, 2014

A fourth star for Germany's Mannschaft - and a boon to official team sponsor Adidas. The sports giant is now racing to get new, four-star jerseys into shops.

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Manuel Neuer DFB Trikot Deutsche Nationalmannschaft Shkodran Mustafi
Image: picture alliance/GES-Sportfoto

German footie fans are likely to be pretty knackered, but happy, after Sunday's nail-biting FIFA World Cup win against Argentina.

Football kit suppliers, by contrast, are kicking into high gear. Germany team sponsor Adidas is now racing to get fresh supplies of the new, four-star official shirts into shops, so you can show them off to your grandkids one day (pictured here worn by goalie Manuel Neuer and defender Shkodran Mustafi).

Investors are certainly banking on the World Cup effect - Adidas is Monday's top performer on Germany's blue-chip DAX index. Its shares were up 2.4 percent in early trading.

But analysts and traders do not see a lasting impact from the World Cup win on the economy. "The good mood will certainly have an effect, people will be more willing to spend," says Postbank's chief economist Marco Bargel. "But it'll be short-lived. Germany won't be going into overdrive."

For now, though, sales are going well. Even before Germany lifted the trophy for the fourth time in World Cup history, two million Germany shirts were snapped up by fans worldwide. Adidas was struggling to keep up with demand.

The historic 7-1 goal-fest win by the Mannschaft over hosts Brazil in the semi-final boosted sales further, with even the away-shirts hard to come by.

Adidas vs Nike

Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer expects a record-breaking turnover in its soccer division of $2.7 billion for 2014, more than main rival Nike's projected $2.3 billion for the same period.

Nike and Adidas dominate the football kit industry, which is worth more than $5 billion a year. Between them, they have an 80-percent share of that market.

While Adidas has supplied the match ball for the World Cup since 1970, Nike kitted out more teams at the tournament in Brazil for the first time. Ten of the 32 teams wore Nike logos, including the hosts, compared with nine for Adidas.

ng/nz (Reuters, dpa)